Spring 2012 Update

Dad's David Brown Tractor...I believe from the 50's

Just posting to give you a quick update as to what I'm doing.  I officially gave up on the apple seeds, they never sprouted.  So I might purchase a few fruit trees this year...if not this year then definitely next.  I also want to try out some strawberry plants.  Over the next two days I'm getting a free chicken coop from a lady at work AND I'm going to plant peas!  I'm planting a stringless variety from Johnny's Selected Seeds and also a variety from Burpee Seeds.  I'm excited to get the peas planted and the chicken coop!  I believe (although I'm not sure) the coop will hold 6 chickens.  This will be a good "starter flock".  I plan on getting a mixed variety and maybe 1 rooster.  I am only using them for eggs, we will not be using them for meat, although many people do.  Another exciting thing for this year's garden is that in addition to a tractor plough, we also recently got a rototiller for the tractor!  The garden this year is being expanded once again, to about 5,000 square feet!  I can't wait to get out there!

In the photo above you can see a small fence to the left, this is where I will plant the peas. I'm waiting for another couple of days to let the ground dry out some.  You can see this is VERY muddy!  Standing water on the right.  This is only a section of the garden plot.  I did notice that there were TONS of worm tracks and holes in the ground.  This is great because the ground will be well aerated.  So all of the horse manure we put on the garden in the fall has worked out well.  I'm going to do my best this summer to document this blog with photos and progress. I tend to get distracted once the nice weather finally arrives and then I don't want to sit inside at the computer.  This year I'm really going to get that done so all of you can see how big the garden is and the progress along the way.  I also plan on doing some blogs about the chickens as well.  If you have any comments, questions or topics you'd like to see on this blog in addition to the topics I'm already including please let me know!  Thanks for reading and hopefully soon I'll have some photos of the planting of the peas, sprouts and the chicken coop!